Sexual Harassment: Celebrity Emily Atack complains that men send hundreds of explicit photos to her every day, so what’s the story?

Emily, who prepared a BBC documentary on this subject, complains of explicit messages reaching her accounts via social media for years, but the number of messages doubled and her scandalous tone intensified during the lockdown period to limit the spread of the Corona virus, and the messages became more sexually aggressive.

“I felt as if[the messages and pictures]were surrounding me and slowly weakening me,” she says.

Emily was 17 years old when she starred as Charlotte Hinchcliffe in a comedy entitled “The Inbetweeners”, which won the audience’s admiration.

“The girl was popular at school,” says Emily. “The problem is, well, she’s a fictional character, but obviously people associate you with the characters you play.”

Emily says that from a very young age she noticed unwanted attention from some men. In an attempt to protect her, those close to her would suggest that she change her behaviour, such as not wearing make-up or wearing a skirt to school.

“It was out of control, and the only way those close to you could control it was to change you… So I started looking inward. All my life I’ve been blaming myself for this.”

This remorse haunted Emily for many years.

She says, “I felt bad posting all this just because I put pictures on Instagram in a bikini, I talk about sex in my shows … but we will get people saying, ‘But you are the reason for this negative attention, then what do you expect?'”

Emily has always used humor as a way to highlight messages, but she says it’s no longer funny.

“If you really look at how serious it is that young girls get messages like this on Instagram, what if it happens to be your daughter or niece? It’s a serious discussion to have once we stop laughing,” she says.

And studies conducted in 2020 found that 76 percent of girls, between the ages of 12 and 18, were sent unsolicited images of young men or naked men.

When Emily spoke to some high school girls, she was shocked to learn that all of them had experienced receiving sexually explicit messages online.

“What shocked me the most was that I thought the girls would talk about boys at school not controlling themselves and their phones, but it was the older men on the internet who were harassing these girls,” she says.

“Why do they do that؟“

Emily posted a post on her social media asking men who text her explicitly to explain to her why they do it.

She says: “I checked my emails, and no one replied, these guys spend their lives harassing me and saying the ugliest things, and then the second time I reply to them and say, ‘Okay, I want to hear from you, let’s talk’, I don’t get a response from anyone.” “.

And she adds, “What happened is that a large number of women reached out and talked about what they should have done in this situation.”

Emily says she never discussed the online harassment with her parents, but her mother, comedian Kate Robbins, is very upset when she is shown a sample of the harassment. She says she worries about the psychological impact on her daughter, and her physical safety.

Although the letters are sent by different men, Emily’s father, Keith, notices how it seems as though the same person is sending them.

In an effort to find out more about the characteristics of these people, Emily DMed two men who regularly send her explicit messages and asked them why. One of them blocked Emily immediately after reading her letter, while the other blamed her, saying that he was trying to get her attention, and that his messages were because of her “fame”.

Emily spoke to Jamie Klingler, co-founder of Reclaim This Street, in an effort to understand the mentality of these men.

Jamie first began receiving explicit images and threats of rape and death online after she organized a vigil in the wake of Sarah Everard’s murder.

“It’s not about what we wear, it’s not about what we do,” she says. “It’s about their desire to silence you and control you and their desire to have a power that makes you feel like they have a piece of you.”

A study by Jane Monckton-Smith, which focuses on homicide prevention, suggests that patterns of violence against women escalate from something seemingly minor to serious sexual assault. For this reason, the researcher recommends that you always report any online harassment to the police to register the individual’s name.

Emily reported the online harassment to the police, and unexpectedly found herself very upset when she described the harassment.

One police officer said the men could be tracked down if other people reported harassment, and they could take action if the behavior involved an element of stalking.

After the cops left, Emily was conflicted about whether she really wanted to arrest someone.

“I want them to just admit that what they did was wrong, so I can let it go,” she says.

In 2021, Emily gave a speech before the British Parliament, through which she presented her experience and exposure to harassment, as well as addressing the online safety bill, and considering online nudity a crime with a maximum penalty of two years in prison.

MPs last week approved the bill, and it will now come before the House of Lords.

And although Emily campaigned for it, she now wonders if changing the law alone is the answer.

Online safety activist Syi Akiwo says that while the law can help, education plays a major role, as well as changing societal norms.

“We really need to take a step back (where is this flood coming from?) It’s really about changing men’s behaviour. Making them understand what a healthy relationship is.”

Andrea Simon, director of End Violence Against Women, agrees that society needs to stop blaming women.

“Everything is focused on women and their behavior, and this is a big thing that has to change,” she adds.

Emily says that dealing with online harassment has been one of the hardest things she’s ever done, and she’s been through therapy throughout the task because it involved revisiting past trauma.

“I’m not going to change what I do because I get sexually harassed all the time. It’s not our behavior that has to change, it’s theirs.”

“I would never blame myself,” she says.